2008–09 Liga I
The 2008–09 Liga I was the ninety-first season of Liga I, the top-level football league of Romania. Season began on 26 July 2008 and ended on 10 June 2009. CFR Cluj were the defending champions.
| Season | 2008–09 | 
|---|---|
| Champions | Unirea Urziceni | 
| Relegated | Argeș Pitești Farul Constanța Otopeni Gloria Buzău  | 
| Champions League | Unirea Urziceni Timișoara  | 
| Europa League | Dinamo București CFR Cluj Vaslui Steaua București  | 
| Matches played | 306 | 
| Goals scored | 707 (2.31 per match) | 
| Top goalscorer | Gheorghe Bucur, Florin Costea (17) | 
| Biggest home win | Otopeni 6–0 Farul | 
| Biggest away win | Pandurii 1–5 Unirea Buzău 1–5 Unirea Otopeni 0–4 CFR  | 
| Highest scoring | Argeș 5–2 Dinamo Vaslui 4–3 Timișoara Gaz Metan 2–5 Universitatea  | 
| Longest winning run | Timișoara (7) | 
| Longest unbeaten run | Urziceni (13) | 
| Longest winless run | Buzău (19) | 
| Longest losing run | Otopeni, Buzău (7) | 
| Highest attendance | Timișoara–Steaua (30,000)[1] | 
| Lowest attendance | Otopeni–Bistrița (100)[2] | 
← 2007–08  2009–10 →   | |
Teams
    
    Promoted
    
Teams promoted from Liga II at the beginning of the season.
- Serie 1 Champions: Brașov
 - Serie 2 Champions: Argeș Pitești
 - Serie 1 Runners-up: Otopeni
 - Serie 2 Runners-up: Gaz Metan Mediaș
 
Relegated
    
Teams relegated to Liga II at the end of season.
Venues
    
| FC Timișoara | Steaua București | FC U Craiova | CFR Cluj | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Păltinișanu | Steaua | Ion Oblemenco | Dr. Constantin Rădulescu | 
| Capacity: 32,972 | Capacity: 28,365 | Capacity: 25,252 | Capacity: 23,500 | 
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| Gloria Buzău | Farul Constanța | Dinamo București | Argeș Pitești | 
| Municipal | Farul | Dinamo | Nicolae Dobrin | 
| Capacity: 18,000 | Capacity: 15,520 | Capacity: 15,032 | Capacity: 15,000 | 
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| Oțelul Galați | 
 | 
Rapid București | |
| Oțelul | Giulești-Valentin Stănescu | ||
| Capacity: 13,500 | Capacity: 11,704[lower-roman 1] | ||
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| Politehnica Iași | FC Vaslui | ||
| Emil Alexandrescu | Municipal | ||
| Capacity: 11,390 | Capacity: 9,240 | ||
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| Pandurii Târgu Jiu | FC Brașov | ||
| Tudor Vladimirescu | Silviu Ploeșteanu | ||
| Capacity: 9,200 | Capacity: 8,800 | ||
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| Gloria Bistrița | CS Otopeni[lower-roman 2] | Unirea Urziceni | Gaz Metan Mediaș | 
| Gloria | Astra | Tineretului | Gaz Metan | 
| Capacity: 7,800 | Capacity: 7,000 | Capacity: 7,000 | Capacity: 5,300 | 
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- Capacity of Giulești-Valentin Stănescu Stadium has been reduced from 19,100 to 11,704 due to advanced degradation of the resistance structure of the South End.
 - CS Otopeni was relocated to Astra Stadium from Ploiești because Otopeni Stadium from Otopeni does not meet the standards for Liga I.
 
Personnel and kits
    
Managerial changes
    
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dinamo București | Contract not renewed | 17 April 2008 | 17 April 2008 | ||
| Rapid București | Contract not renewed | 3 June 2008 | 3 June 2008 | ||
| Vaslui | Contract not renewed | 10 June 2008 | 10 June 2008 | ||
| Otopeni | Contract not renewed | 18 June 2008 | 21 June 2008 | ||
| Gloria Buzău | Sacked | 11 August 2008 | 12 August 2008 | ||
| Otopeni | Caretaker | 18 August 2008 | 18 August 2008 | ||
| CFR Cluj | Sacked | 30 August 2008 | 1 September 2008 | ||
| Otopeni | Sacked | 8 September 2008 | 8 September 2008 | ||
| Pandurii Târgu Jiu | Sacked | 21 September 2008 | 21 September 2008 | ||
| Rapid București | Sacked | 2 October 2008 | 3 October 2008 | ||
| Gloria Buzău | Sacked | 3 October 2008 | 9 October 2008 | ||
| Rapid București | Caretaker | 9 October 2008 | 9 October 2008 | ||
| Steaua București | Resigned | 22 October 2008 | 26 October 2008 | ||
| Vaslui | Sacked | 1 November 2008 | 1 November 2008 | ||
| Otopeni | Resigned | 24 November 2008 | 24 November 2008 | ||
| Timișoara | Sacked | 2 December 2008 | 29 December 2008 | ||
| Gloria Buzău | Sacked | 17 December 2008 | 28 January 2009 | ||
| Steaua București | Sacked | 31 December 2008 | 1 January 2009 | ||
| CFR Cluj | Sacked | 6 January 2009 | 8 January 2009 | ||
| Politehnica Iași | Resigned | 11 January 2009 | 18 January 2009 | ||
| Rapid București | Sacked | 12 January 2009 | 14 January 2009 | ||
| CFR Cluj | Sacked | 5 April 2009 | 6 April 2009 | ||
| Farul Constanța | Resigned | 13 April 2009 | 13 April 2009 | ||
| Rapid București | Resigned | 17 April 2009 | 3 May 2009 | ||
| Universitatea Craiova | Sacked | 15 May 2009 | 15 May 2009 | ||
| Steaua București | Resigned | 17 May 2009 | 18 May 2009 | ||
| Vaslui | Resigned | 26 May 2009 | 26 May 2009 | ||
| Timișoara | Sacked | 31 May 2009 | 1 June 2009 | 
League table
    
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unirea Urziceni (C) | 34 | 21 | 7 | 6 | 51 | 20 | +31 | 70 | Qualification to Champions League group stage | 
| 2 | FC Timișoara | 34 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 58 | 38 | +20 | 67[lower-alpha 1] | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round | 
| 3 | Dinamo București | 34 | 20 | 5 | 9 | 56 | 30 | +26 | 65 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round[lower-alpha 2] | 
| 4 | CFR Cluj | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 44 | 26 | +18 | 59 | |
| 5 | Vaslui | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 44 | 37 | +7 | 57 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round | 
| 6 | Steaua București | 34 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 56[lower-alpha 3] | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round | 
| 7 | Universitatea Craiova | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 44 | 25 | +19 | 56[lower-alpha 3] | |
| 8 | Rapid București | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 55[lower-alpha 4] | |
| 9 | Brașov | 34 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 35 | 25 | +10 | 55[lower-alpha 4] | |
| 10 | Argeș Pitești (R) | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 41 | 47 | −6 | 44 | Relegation to Liga II[lower-alpha 5] | 
| 11 | Pandurii Târgu Jiu | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 27 | 36 | −9 | 43 | |
| 12 | Oțelul Galați | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 37 | 48 | −11 | 40 | |
| 13 | Gloria Bistrița | 34 | 11 | 5 | 18 | 32 | 44 | −12 | 38 | |
| 14 | Politehnica Iași | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 32 | 47 | −15 | 37 | |
| 15 | Gaz Metan Mediaș | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 36 | 51 | −15 | 36 | Spared from relegation[lower-alpha 5] | 
| 16 | Farul Constanța (R) | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 27 | 56 | −29 | 30 | Relegation to Liga II | 
| 17 | Otopeni (R) | 34 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 32 | 54 | −22 | 22 | |
| 18 | Gloria Buzău (R) | 34 | 4 | 5 | 25 | 23 | 62 | −39 | 17 | 
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- Timișoara were docked 6 points after not respecting a ruling from CAS.[51] However, this decision was revoked by the CAS on 11 June 2009.[52]
 - CFR Cluj as the 2008–09 Cupa României winners qualified for the play-off round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.
 - STE 2–1 CRA; CRA 0–0 STE
 - RAP 3–1 BRA; BRA 0–0 RAP
 - Argeș Pitești were relegated to the Liga II due to allegations of referee bribery. Gaz Metan as best-placed relegated team were therefore spared from relegation.[53]
 
Results
    
    
Top goalscorers
    
Source: Liga1.ro (in Romanian)
Champion squad
    
| Unirea Urziceni[56] | 
|---|
| 
 Goalkeepers: Giedrius Arlauskis  Manager: Dan Petrescu.  | 
Season statistics
    
    Scoring
    
- First goal of the season: Andrei Prepeliță for Craiova against Iași, 64 minutes (Round 1 – 26 July 2008)[57]
 - Last goal of the season: Claudiu Niculescu for Dinamo against Argeș, 90+3 minutes (Round 34 – 10 June 2009)[58]
 - Fastest goal in a match: Andrei Cristea for Iași against Pandurii, 10 seconds (Round 30 – 9 May 2009)[59]
 - Fastest two goals in a match: Pandurii 1–1 Bistrița, minutes 2 and 4 seconds (Round 14 – 8 November 2008)[60]
 - Goal scored at the latest point in a match: Cristian Oroș for Brașov against Unirea, 90+4 minutes (Round 1 – 26 July 2008)[61]
 - First own goal of the season: Zhivko Zhelev (Oțelul) for Gaz Metan, 31 minutes (Round 1 – 27 July 2008)[62]
 - Two own goals by the same team in a match: Diogo and Alexandru Tudose (both Buzău) for CFR, minutes 14 and 79 (Round 2 – 3 August 2008)[63]
 - Two goals in one minute and one second: Farul 1–1 Brașov, between 5:53 and 6:54 (Round 13 – 1 November 2008)[64]
 - Three goals in three minutes: Farul 1–4 Steaua, minutes 89, 90 and 90+2 (Round 7 – 13 September 2008)[65]
 - Six goals in 30 minutes: Gaz Metan 5–1 Timișoara, minutes 60 through 90 (Round 3 – 9 August 2008)[66]
 - Most goals in one half: Gaz Metan 0–0 at half time, 5–1 final Timișoara (Round 3 – 9 August 2008)[66]
 - Widest winning margin: Otopeni 6–0 Farul (Round 34 – 10 June 2009)[67]
 - Hattricks scored: 4
- Alexandru Curtean for Gaz Metan against Timișoara, minutes 65, 75 and 81 (Round 3 – 9 August 2008)[66]
 - Marius Niculae for Dinamo against Vaslui, minutes 24, 78 and 90 (Round 24 – 11 April 2009)[68]
 - Marius Niculae for Dinamo against Bistrița, minutes 20, 56 and 72 (Round 26 – 21 April 2009)[69]
 - Victoraș Iacob for Otopeni against Farul, minutes 4, 34 and 50 (Round 34 – 10 June 2009)[67]
 
 
Cards
    
- First yellow card: Attila Hadnagy for Brașov against Unirea, 19 minutes (Round 1 – 26 July 2008)[70]
 - First red card: Rafael Pereira for Gaz Metan against Dinamo, 22 minutes (Round 2 – 3 August 2008)[71]
 - Most red cards in a single match: 3
- Dinamo 1–0 Craiova – 2 for Dinamo (Júlio César, Adrian Ropotan) and 1 for Craiova (Josh Mitchell) (Round 6 – 30 August 2008)[72]
 - Argeș 1–1 Craiova – 2 for Craiova (Mircea Bornescu, Michael Baird) and 1 for Argeș (Daniel Bălașa) (Round 10 – 3 October 2008)[73]
 
 - Match without any cards: Unirea 1–1 Steaua (Round 34 – 10 June 2009)[74]
 
References
    
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